When the Spirit and the Word Work Together

We've talked a lot on this blog about how the Holy Spirit interacts with us through His Word.  But I've discovered through both personal experience and reading that when believers who are used to being aware of the Holy Spirit's presence (particularly those of us with "charismatic" denomination leanings) suddenly don't sense the Holy Spirit when praying or reading Scripture, we think something is horribly wrong and freak out about some heinous sin we've apparently forgotten we've committed.

But this result reflects the great danger in always expecting a great emotional experience from every single interaction with God.  There could be any number of reasons besides unrepentant sin - for example, He could be depriving you temporarily so you remember how special His presence really is, He could be reminding you that it is He you worship and not some emotional experience, or it could be that you're reading one of the loooooooooong lists of names in the Old Testament. :-)

So, this week's Bible study (and prayer!) tip is: Always be open to the Holy Spirit's presence, but don't instantly jump to the conclusion that something is wrong if you don't have an emotional experience.

For this week's video, I'd like to share the song "I Can Feel It" by Third Day

Finally, prayer requests.  Mine for this week is: a number of friends and accquaintances are dealing with some pretty serious medical problems right now; please pray for their healing.  What can I pray for for YOU? :-)

Anything else you'd like to comment on?